SPEED READ

CIRCUIT
Q&A: WHAT DRIVES
MARK WEBBER?
His greatest motor sport influences and motivations
After a dream run with Porsche in 2015 Mark Webber has
managed to capture what alluded him during his F1 career.
SR: At what point did you know motor sport was what you
wanted to do for a career?
Mark Webber: Growing up in Queanbeyan was very fortunate
for me, a rural setting, easy access to motor bikes at an early
age and then go-karts straight after that.
I think 14-15 was the age I was definitely locked onto motor
sport and shortly after that realised I wanted to get into cars
and get onto the bigger tracks. Cars were obviously a huge
step and then of course going to Europe.
SR: Since leaving Formula 1 you have been singing the
praises of endurance racing. What is it about this formula
that works for you?
MW: I think what I like about WEC at the moment is the timing
I suppose in my career. There’s no doubt about it I wanted
to race in Formula 1 for a long period of time if I could, and
obviously when I got there I had a lot of hard work to do and in
the end didn’t have too bad a career and raced for a long time
in F1.
Then I was very fortunate that Porsche were in a position to
start a program in sports cars. They were in touch with me very
early, which was nice and it fitted very well with my decision to
stop in Formula 1.
I enjoy the championship because it has a lot less races in
terms of travel but you still have the adrenaline of racing.
It almost has a bit of a Davis Cup feel to it as I work with my
team mates in a much more open way which again at this age
you are more open to that, more pliable, whereas when you
are younger you are more driven and more selfish I suppose.
Which is the single-seater mentality.
SR: Congratulations on winning the World Endurance
Championship in 2015, how did the championship unfold
for you and how did it feel to be crowned champion?
MW: Winning the world championship was definitely a huge
moment for myself and the team. We thoroughly deserved
it, we won four races on the bouncer in the middle of the
championship, so we were in a great position to put the
pressure on Audi in Bahrain.
But that wasn’t straight-forward as we had a huge problem
with the engine throughout the race and in true German fashion
the guys were very well prepared for repairing the issue that
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